ACE Leadership: How to lead through turbulent times?

A ship bound for Rome with 276 passengers set sail through the Mediterranean Sea. The passengers included a prisoner being escorted by soldiers to be tried in the court of Julius Caesar. The captain of the ship cautiously navigated along the coastline of Crete to avoid the strong wind and eventually anchored at the port in Fair Havens and waited for the weather to improve. Seeing a break in the weather, he set sail again, despite being advised not to leave. Soon, the ship ran into a fierce storm. The crew lost control, and the ship was tossed around on the high seas for two weeks. Everyone onboard was fearful and worn out, not having had any food. The crew decided to abandon the ship and attempted to lower the lifeboat. At this point, the prisoner stood up and first consoled the passengers. He got the soldiers to cut loose the lifeboat and let it fall into the water to prevent the crew from escaping. Next, he ordered throwing the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. He calmed the passengers and assured them that no lives would be lost. The boat eventually ran aground close to the island of Malta, sufficient for all to swim to the shore. While the boat broke up, all 276 people on the ship reached the shore safely.

ACE Leadership

The prisoner in our story is the epitome of leadership. Three decisions the prison made worth taking note of, abbreviated as ACE for the sake of simplicity. One, he threw the cargo (assets of the ship) overboard. The cargo had no value to the ship in the storm, throwing it made the vessel light and agile. Only an agile mind can create an agile environment. Two, he conveyed confidence to the passengers that the storm would soon pass away and that no life would be lost. Three, he ordered cutting loose the lifeboat. It was crucial to keep the crew on the ship for the simple reason of making the passengers emotionally safe. These were needed decisions to preserve the people through the storm. Our prisoner needed neither analytics nor strategy advice; the decisions came naturally to him, which is characteristic of a true leader.

Ironically, management teams like to refer to themselves as "the leadership". If all they do is stand at the helm while the ship sails through calm waters, there is no leadership involved. Leadership is a rare commodity, as was the case on our ship. Organisations needing leadership must sort out for individuals like the prison in our story. You can appreciate what it takes to be a leader when you know that the prisoner was none other than the Apostle Paul.

Can a manager become a leader?

Drawing from our story, the fundamental difference between management and leadership is the way the two operate. Management runs its affairs by controlling. They maintain the top-down line of control by bestowing power on managers to reward, punish, and coerce employees. For managers, the power is temporary, as it is forfeited when they lose their position. Knowing this, managers strive to hang on to their positions at all costs, which is the recipe for a toxic workplace.

On the contrary, leaders get tasks done by leading the employees to fulfil their obligations. They use the energy inherent in themselves that makes them charismatic, loved, and cherished by their subordinates. These features also make them effective managers. Organisations need to look for such people to be their managers. This, however, is not the way many organisations develop their leadership. The common approach is to turn managers into leaders with training. Is that possible? Only if the leopard can change its spots.